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Single Parents
mamastich
member
Single mama - beautiful baby - learning to live
The single parent budget?
mamastich
member
Do you find it easier to manage your money now that's it's just one person to keep track of? Where do you cut corners first when money is tight? What's something you splurge on? What was the hardest adjustment to doing alone?
I personally am loving managing just me and my money. Money got tight and I finally got on wic. I struggled with the idea of asking for help but it's made a huge difference. I splurge on mini vacations with my LO, luckily I get vacation hours from work if I plan smart enough it works. I had to adjust to waiting 2 weeks between paychecks, I was so used to money rolling in every Friday and now 2 weeks seems like forever!
Single mama - beautiful baby - learning to liveThis discussion has been closed.
Re: The single parent budget?
I was never married or anything so I can't say I've ever been used to it any other way, but I splurge on stuff that makes me feel better.
ex. Pedis, getting my hair done, and shoes.
It just makes me feel halfway put together, and gets me through the month.
I find it a lot easier to manage money for just myself than for me and XH. He always had the problem of money burning a hole in his pocket.
My splurges tend to be on going to the Renaissance Festival. That is my mini vacation from reality and stress. I go there and get to be with my friends. In 1300s Scotland and 1500s England, the modern day stresses do not exist
If I need to cut back, I usually buy fewer groceries. I can get away with this because my mom invites me over for dinner several days a week so I am not worried about being low on food.
Do you find it easier to manage your money now that's it's just one person to keep track of? - ABSOLUTLY! XH husband spent it like it was water...on stuff he wanted. Now it is so much easier to manage what little I have, but I can make it work since it is just me and I know the difference between NEEDS and WANTS.
Where do you cut corners first when money is tight? - I am pretty good about managing the grocery budget, shopping sales and going to the grocery outlet. I also have the bonus of getting free organic veggies from the farm my mom works at, so thats nice. Anything I can't eat, I freeze. I really, really plan out meals for the week, so I can figure out what will be for dinner and for lunch for me the next day. LO gets lunch and breakfast and milk after she turns 1, at daycare, so that helps a lot. And we go to my parents house every weekend and have meals there, so that helps me a lot too. I buy a lot of LO's clothes at the thrift store or clearence rack (try to buy a season ahead to take advantage). And I sell what I can afterwards at a consigment shop.
What's something you splurge on? - not much, ususally something for LO. Though I am trying to shop the clearance racks for clothes for myself, I dont' have much (I wasn't ever allowed to get anything for myself) so that is a splurge for me and still trying to get over the guilt of buying mysefl something, but that will come with time. You can't be taught for years to feel guilty for doing something for yourself and just turn that off. I am also trying to save money, I was left with nothing, so I want to build a savings and maybe one day, splurge on a weekend trip for me and LO.
What was the hardest adjustment to doing alone? - I have a good job and make a descent salary, but when a third of your monthly income goes to daycare it makes it hard to pay for the rest of stuff in life. I used to get some CS, but that stoped. The CS was nice becasue it gave me some breathing room, now we are down to the last dollar. I looked into getting some assistance, but I make too much apparently. Hopefully I will get CS again soon, I don't have a car (HX took it and told me and our baby to ride the bus) so my parents let me borrow theirs, but I need to get my own. And we have a one bedroom apartment which works well now, but we are going to eventually need two bedrooms, and two bedrooms are not in my price range.
When married we went through a few spots where STBX was laid off, so I feel like I've had practice at cutting corners. Some big places to cut back are cable and internet, cell phone and groceries. I also know that I'm a boderline hoarder (kidding...not) so in tight spots I got through my closet and DS's closet and take stuff to our local consignment store.
Without STBX in the picture grocery shopping is less as well because I don't have to buy the extras he likes.
I forgot the cable thing....we don't have cable, which is probably why I forgot it. Honestly, when you are running after a little one and taking care of your home, who has time for TV
Sorry ;( I didn't mean to make you feel down on yourself. I actually have to put together my thesis so I can graduate with my M.S. I accepted a position while in school (don't let that pass your by). I use to look oddly at those people like "how could you get sooo far and not finish?". In this economy you don't know what will or won't be available when you do graduate. I got pregnant just before I was about to put my thesis together so I could graduate. I haven't kicked myself in the butt yet nor found motivation nor the energy. LO's father gives me 500/month for day care, that is our agreement between us & not the courts. So I guess if I didn't have that then I wouldn't be able to put as much into savings. Or I could just petition for child support. I'm really lazy so having to dig out 3yrs worth of tax returns and bring 8+ months of receipts that I don't have to court didn't sound appealing to me.
I don't have cable either...Don't need it, don't want it. I did buy an antenna (flat boxed/digital) so that little man can see cartoons, and I can watch The Office (when it came on). I buy clothes from thrift stores and I have saved soo much money doing that! I love food (good food) soo my grocery shopping usually goes a little over my budget, but not by much! I started saving money back when E turned one.
We go on mini vacations. E and I went camping and fishing last holiday, and enjoyed it. I have a nature boy on my hands and it works in my favor because nature kids are happy with just going to a state park (which is non expensive)! I love the nature too, so we both end up happy. I get all the government holidays off because I work on a base so that helps too.
When money is tight, I cut my grocery shopping down to "needs". I also don't have internet, but I have it on my phone if I ever need it. And I usually do for work, but they give me discounts on my cell service. I also suggest everyone looking into discounts your company offers, You NEVER know what they offer. My company also had one for child care but it was for companies that were nowhere near where I lived.
Here's the budget advice i received from an old grandpa that should still hold true to this day. Actually, I have many friends from over seas and they live by this too m ore or less. Your parent(s) gave you extremely bad advice if they didn't beat you senseless for thinking 70k in student loans would be a good idea. I took out less than 1k/yr for undergraduate work.
Take the net pay check per month and divide it into 4. One week for mortgage, one week for all other bills, one week to live off of, and one week for savings. If you have any debt than pay that off first. Don't buy something if you don't have the cash for it. (doesn't mean you have to pay in cash) Save up for a car then buy it, not vise vera. if you get paid biweekly then you have two free paychecks a year, those should go in a rainy day fund you don't touch. If your rent/mortgage cost more than 1/4-1/3 ( i say up to 1/3 because its closer to 1/4 of your gross) of your net take home then you are living in a home that you cannot afford.